The latest on the Washington Nationals' triple-A affiliate in Syracuse from the Chiefs' front office.

Results tagged ‘ Ryan Speier ’

With two weeks gone in spring training 2010 the Washington Nationals roster is beginning to take shape. In the spirit of the NCAA field of 65 announcement today we thought we would look at where the Nationals might be with their major league and minor league pitching staffs at this point.

Major League starting rotation: John Lannan and Jason Marquis are locks, while Scott Olsen should be penciled in as the third starter. Craig Stammen coming off late season surgery is good enough for the fourth spot with veterans Livian Hernandez and Miguel Batista are fighting for the 5th spot – that won’t be needed until April 19th due to off days.

Major League bullpen: Matt Capps and Brian Bruney are the back end, while Tyler Clippard and lefty Sean Burnett will pitch early. That leaves Jason Bergmann, who is out of options, and Tyler Walker, who has been hit hard to date to fill out the staff. Batista could be used as well early of if he doesn’t make the rotation. Lefty Ron Villone, a non-roster player and now 41 years old would give them a second lefty out of the pen but right now is the 13 pitcher on a 12 or 11 man staff.

AAA-Syracuse Staff: A good deal of this staff depends on the health and decisions made with Olsen, Batista and Hernandez, but the Chiefs appear loaded no matter what happens.

Bullpen includes: Six lefthanded pitchers are competing for two maybe three spots and include Doug Slaten, Victor Garate, Jesse English – all picked up in the off season, while Nationals prospects Attie Severino, Yunior Novoa and Jack Spradlin return.

From the righthanded side of the bullpen the guy drafted after Stephen Strasburg – Drew Storen has been fantastic in spring training and could begin the season in Washington, but most likley will start in Syracuse with veterans Logan Kensing, Ryan Speier, Joel Peralta, Rafael Martin and Nationals prospect Josh Wilkie giving the Chiefs quality to choose from. The Nats could even move Collin Balester or Luis Atilano to the bullpen – similar to the last seasons experiment with Tyler Clippard that payed off nicely.

The Washington Nationals continue to stockpile pitching when they signed veteran lefthanded pitcher Shawn Estes to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. The Estes signing adds to an impressive list of pitchers added this off-season. They include, righthanded relievers Ryan Speier and Joel Peralta, lefties Chuck James, Doug Slaton, Jesse English, Victor Garate and the resigning of Logan Kensing and Andrew Kown from last seasons team.

Estes, 37, made 13 starts for AAA-Albuquerque (Dodgers) last season going 3-4 with a very good 3.07 ERA. After not getting a call-up to Los Angeles in June he decided not to pitch the remainder of the season.

Speier, 30, is tall at 6’7″ and has pitched in the major leagues with Colorado, most recently last year in 5-games. He spent much of the 2008 season with the Rockies and recorded a PCL league high 33-saves in 2007.

Peralta, 33, appeared in 27-games with the Rockies last season going 0-3 with a 6.20 ERA. He began the season with AAA-Colorado Springs posting a 6-0 record and a 2.45 ERA in 37 games in relief.

Slaten, 30, also has pitched in the major leagues the past three seasons with Arizona. Last year he split between AAA-Reno going 3-2 with a 3.09 ERA and 9-saves in 39 games and Arizona going 0-0 with a 7.11 ERA in 11-games.

English, 25, was picked up from the San Francisco Giants as a waiver claim after pitching for the Giants AA-Connecticut club. He posted a 7-7 record and a 4.20 ERA as a starting pitcher, but lefthanded hitters batted only .151 against him last season.

Garate, 25 another Nationals waiver claim in September of 2009 pitched the entire season at AA-Chattanooga (Dodgers) and recorded a 2.04 ERA in 47 releif appearances.

Thompson, 23 was acquired last August when the Nats sent Nick Johnson to the Marlins. He appeared in 6-games for AA-Harrisburg and was 0-3 with a 3.31 ERA and recorded 27-K’s in 33 innings pitched. At AA-Jacksonville he was 5-9 with a 4.11 ERA in 20-starts. Thompson was the Marlins #1 selection in June 2005 out of Second Baptist HS in Houston.

Kensing, 27, was impressive with the Chiefs last season in 31 games he was 2-1 with 17-saves and recorded a 2.97 ERA. He walked only 6-batters and struckout 35 in 33-innings. With the Nationals he struggled in 32-relief appearances giving up 35-runs in 35 innings.

Kown, 28, split time at three levels in the Nationals system last season going a combined 9-4 with a 3.83 ERA in 101-innings pitched. Kown had a breakout season in 2009 after being selected by the Tigers in the 5th round of the 2004 draft out of Georgia Tech and earning NCAA All-American honors.

James, 29 missed all of last season after arm surgery. The lefty won 11-games for the Atlanta Braves in back to back seasons in 2006 and 2007. He struggled in 2008 and returned to Richmond and made 15 starts and recorded a 2.97 ERA.

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